Dhaka, Nov 1 (IANS) Bangladeshis drink most of the tea they produce and the new consumption trend has led to a steep fall in exports, say industry findings.
The high rate of tea drinking may make Bangladesh an importer and the per-hectare production is among the lowest among world tea producers, The Daily Star newspaper said Sunday.

Once a global competitor to tea giants like Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh has seen the export volume coming down to 10 percent in recent years.

Against 56 million kg production, total domestic consumption is around 50 million kg, the newspaper said in a report from tea hub Chittagong.

Industry insiders assume that Bangladesh will require tea imports in five to six years if the current pace of internal consumption continues.

The annual tea output remained static for the last 10 years - between 53 and 56 million kg, barring 2005 and 2008 when the figures were 60 million and 58 million kg, respectively.

Around 56 million kg of tea is also this year’s projected production.

Between 1985 and 1990, Bangladesh used to export up to 90 percent of its tea and the importers included Pakistan, Afghanistan, former USSR, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The country now exports only five to six million kg now to Pakistan and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. All previously importing countries lost interest in Bangladeshi tea.

Bangladesh is also lagging in hectare-wise production of tea, compared to major tea producing and exporting countries such as Sri Lanka, India, China and Kenya, said Abu Taher, vice-chairman of Tea Traders Association of Bangladesh.

The local tea gardens on an average produce 1,200 to 1,250 kg per hectare. In Sri Lanka, India and Kenya per hectare production ranges from 3,000 to 3,500 kg.

Arif Rahman Shahin, senior executive of Purba Bangla Brokers Ltd, observed that the country failed to make any great leap in hectare-wise production in the last 62 years.